From the Celebrated Loins
by mooty
Summary: Albus and Rose find to their horror that they have been sorted into Slytherin. However, with a friend in Scorpius, perhaps it doesn't really matter too much...
1. Prologue: Familial Trait

**From the Celebrated Loins**

By mooty

I do not own Harry Potter, et cetera.

**Introduction**

This fanfic is canon – based loosely on the last ever chapter of Harry Potter anyway. But from there I start a new journey for the younglings.

Please don't judge me by my fanfic :\ I think I'm not as good at fanfiction as with other more original forms of fiction, haha. But please comment, thanks!

Pardon the title of the fanfic. I felt like it.

Prologue: Familial Trait

"I won't!" shrieked Albus, as the cheerily malevolent eyes of James teased him. "I won't be in Slytherin!"

Just a few metres in front of the brothers, Ginny stopped the trolley she was pushing, and turned back crossly. "Now, James, none of that nonsense now! Your brother is terrified as he is and here you are -"

"Here I am simply telling him what COULD happen, Mom!" James was still smirking. "Here I was, being a nice good older brother by telling him about the four houses of Hogwarts, and how Slytherin was known to be the 'bad' house and how he MIGHT -"

"Alright now, James! You, come in front and push your own trolley since you're so full of nonsense!" James stuck out his tongue at his mother and swiftly replaced Ginny at the trolley, immediately getting lost in the bustling King's Cross crowd. Albus remained a distance behind the rest of the family, lost in thought. This was highly characteristic of him, but Ginny couldn't help thinking that Albus, the sensitive boy that he was, was considerably affected by James' taunts. She walked over to her, crouched to his height, and patted his shoulder.

"It's okay, Albus. Your brother was just messing around with you. You'll definitely be in Gryffindor, just like Dad, James, and I. You know, it always runs in the family." Albus seemed to believe this lie, and immediately broke into a bashful grin. Gripping Ginny's hand tightly, he walked into the ticket box in between Platforms 9 and 10, and disappeared.

_The chapters following this will be much longer, so don't worry!_


	2. Chapter 1: Efflorescence

**From the Celebrated Loins**

By mooty

I do not own Harry Potter, et cetera.

**Chapter One: Efflorescence**

Albus had been on Platform 9¾ a couple of times before, while sending James off, but somehow, the platform felt different this year. The teenagers frolicking around and talking to one another – they were to be his schoolmates for quite a long time. They looked happy – just the opposite of what Albus was feeling at the moment.

He was scared. He had no idea if he had what it took to become a wizard. He was young, after all, even if he was the son of famous Harry Potter. And now, he felt alone. He didn't know anyone here…

"Ron! Hermione!" called Harry, as he dashed toward a far end of the platform – there, leaning casually on the wall, was Uncle Ronald, who was looking amusedly at Aunt Hermione crossly lecturing Rose, no doubt on various school-related tidbits.

Rose Weasley was his age, and they had known each other for the longest time possible, without really knowing each other well – due mainly to Albus' unwillingness to do so. Albus knew that he was born a mere four days before Rose, and that Rose had had two boyfriends in the past, but not much more. Behind the long mop of ginger red hair and freckles was a face that remained starkly alien to her cousin.

"Hello, Rose," smiled Albus politely. Rose merely grinned in reply.

"Oh, it's Albus!" gushed Aunt Hermione. "Finally going to school, eh? Now, you'd better take good care of my Rose – I have no idea what she's going to do without supervision, really – Neville had better take good care of her!"

"Now, now, Hermione," replied Harry heartily. "You seem to assume that Rose will be in Gryffindor, under Neville!"

"Of course, Harry," called out Ron lazily, from behind. "Everyone knows that Rose only deserves the best." Laughter ensued – and Albus laughed along. Yes, Gryffindor was definitely the best house, and there was no question about it. He would be in Gryffindor.

Just then, a slender snaky train moved into view from the platform. The Hogwarts Express had arrived. James, who had spotted the train long ago, had already lugged his trunk from the trolley, and was making his way toward the train, whistling happily. Silence, meanwhile, had fallen over the small crowd of Albus, Rose and their parents, as they would leave one another for the first time in their lives. Albus' eyes watered as he looked up, imploringly, at his mother – but Ginny only smiled back as she bent down to wipe her eyes.

"It'll be alright, Albus," Ginny patted Albus on the head gently. "You'll be back in no time – not that you'll want to once you've gotten to Hogwarts!" And with that, Ginny gave the two children a shove, as they shuffled along with the crowd with trunk in tow, making their way to the Express as they found themselves, for the first time ever, students of Hogwarts.

Rose seemed to think she would be sticking with Albus for the train journey, and Albus did not dispute this – it would be fine to have some company for the ride, especially since it was unlikely that he would make many friends. They walked along the corridor of the train, occasionally opening the doors of the train compartments to look for vacancies, finding none. At last, right at the back of the train, there were two adjacent seats in the last compartment. The other seats were taken by a tall handsome blond boy and his female friends.

"Oh, we do have some space," said the blond boy as they looked at him inquiringly. "Move over, Rachel, and give them some space." The brunette girl nearest the compartment door made a dissenting sound, but moved over for Albus and Rose. The duo put their trunks in the luggage compartment and sat down, looking oddly out of place. The blond boy continued a loud conversation he had been having with his girlfriends.

After what seemed an eternity, the compartment door opened, and a plump uniformed lady with a trolley peered inside. The boy smiled with glee. "Goody! Snacks! I'll buy Chocolate Frogs for all of you, don't worry – hey, you two, want anything?"

Albus nodded his head for Rose and himself, but the boy merely smiled and called out to the trolley lady, "Two more Chocolate Frogs, and thank you, madam!" He took out a leather pouch from his pocket and paid the lady with an enormous Galleon, drawing cries of admiration from his girlfriends as he did so. He passed around Chocolate Frogs to everyone, for which Albus and Rose thanked him.

"Oh, I've forgotten to ask your names! Hi there, anyway. I'm Scorpius. You two?" Albus and Rose replied shyly.

"Nice names, that," Scorpius grinned. "You guys must be first-years too. I'm first-year, anyway – these are my friends: Lisa, Rachel, and Kelly! Known them since childhood, anyway. So, um, Albus: do you play Quidditch?" Albus shook his head. "I do. I've had a Nexus Five since I was six – I played Chaser for the local team before coming here. You ought to try the game out, anyway, it's tons of fun, and we can play against one another!" Albus gave a token nod, as he nibbled on his Chocolate Frog. A card dropped out of the Chocolate Frog packaging as he did so.

"Oh, I forgot – the card!" laughed Scorpius, as he picked up Albus' card. "Oh… you got Severus Snape. Rather nice, huh? I have one of that already, though. Now lemme see what I've gotten… wow! Harry Potter! Now that's one for my collection!" Scorpius handed both cards to Albus, and Albus stared at the Harry Potter card. It was his father, smiling at him, a knowing twinkle in his eyes.

"Wow…" gaped Albus, making a silencing gesture to Rose as he did so.

"Yeah. I absolutely like Harry Potter! Heard that he slay the Death Eaters and all… do you like him too?"

Albus nodded guiltily. He was never one to hanker after fame, which was why he had not disclosed his parents' identity – but it would be an impossible task, hiding his lineage, and he just imagined what he would have to live through. His moroseness must have shown on his face, for Rose put a hand over his shoulder.

Scorpius resumed conversation with his girlfriends, but a loud bell sounded throughout the train not long after.

"Oh, oh! We're reaching soon! Now I'll just have to change – close your eyes, girls – and then we'll be there! The Sorting and all that! Oh, I'm just so excited! I reckon I'll be in Slytherin like my parents… you, Albus?"

Albus gulped, and stammered something noncommittal in reply as he proceeded to change into wizarding robes. It was then the girls' turn to change, and as Rose pulled up the last of her stockings, the Hogwarts Express halted abruptly.

"Hogwarts it is!" declared Scorpius heartily, standing up with panache.

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_As you can see the three don't know much of one another yet – this will come later. Comments and reviews for my first real chapter? (:_


	3. Chapter 2: The Serpent Calls

**From the Celebrated Loins**

By mooty

Thanks to all who reviewed! Most of you seem to think that Scorpius was a little too happy for his bloodline, but I have made a calculated decision to make Scorpius friendly and kind – you'll see why in later chapters. Scorpius was not meant to be a carbon copy of Draco, after all.

I do not own Harry Potter, et cetera.

**Chapter Two: The Serpent Calls**

Albus, Rose, Scorpius and his girlfriends alighted the Express - fortunately, the weather was fine, and a bit of sun peeked through the huge mass of cloud which concealed the dark blue sky from view. It was evening, and a gentle chill greeted the students as they stepped out of the scarlet vehicle.

Albus stared. He had lived in Godric's Hollow almost all his life, and had rarely seen raw, unadulterated nature like this. There was forest on every side, except the side he was facing, where there was a long, narrow river leading straight - to an enormous medieval castle.

"First years here! First years!" called out a short stout man standing by the river. There were around fifteen small wooden boats in the water behind him. Albus guided Rose and proceeded to the river, Scorpius lagging behind, chatting animatedly with his girlfriends.

"Oh, my parents used to say that first-years would take the river to the castle!" exclaimed Rose excitedly, as she jumped onto one of the boats, bidding Albus to follow her. Albus sat down beside her, and was surprised to be followed by Scorpius, who was still waving to a few girls in the adjacent boat. Albus, the introvert that he was, secretly marvelled at Scorpius' ability to handle girls - he knew for a fact that he would stutter often if he attempted to make conversation with anyone, let alone someone of the opposite gender!

The short man got into a larger boat of his own, and blew a whistle - the boats started up.

"Ooh, nice weather, isn't it! My father said it always used to rain on the first day of school - on HIS first day at Hogwarts, there was a thunderstorm! Almost seems quite boring, now, huh?"

"I like it this way - at least we won't get wet!" Albus replied, smiling.

"Aw, where's your sense of adventure? Anyway, I bet you're really smart, right? The spectacles and all. Betcha you'll get into Ravenclaw!" teased Scorpius, running a hand through his hair as he leaned back comfortably.

"My parents were in Gryffindor, though - and so were THEIR parents before them. They told me it ran in the family!" Albus said.

"Yeah! So will I! Like everyone in MY family was from Gryffindor too!" piped up Rose.

"Haha! I've heard that it doesn't always go that way - but we'll find up soon enough!" The boats had reached the other bank, and Scorpius did an acrobatic leap onto dry land, Albus and Rose following suit. It was then that Albus finally got to see Hogwarts from up close. He looked up amazedly - he could only barely see the top of the castle, majestic and grand as it was.

The short man had led the first-years to the entrance of the castle. He now went forward and gave a few sharp knocks on the large high door of the castle.

The door took a while, but finally, it swung in suddenly, only for a large bushy man to appear at the door, beaming at the first-years (some of which were staring at the large man apprehensively).

"That's early, Rumstone! The weather was fine today, wasn't it!" Albus noticed that the large professor spoke in a slow drawl, and thought he had recognised that voice somewhere.

"The first-years are all accounted for, Professor Hagrid!" The short man said stoutly, before bowing deeply and walking past Professor Hagrid, into the castle, which seemed to emanate a homely warmth that soothed the first-years considerably. Professor Hagrid looked down at the first-years again, before breaking into a grin.

"First-years! Welcome to Hogwarts! I am Professor Hagrid, the Care of Magical Creatures Professor - not that you'll be taking my subject until third-year! But enough banter - follow me into the castle, why don't you!" He turned and moved into the castle, and the first-years obediently followed. Albus could hear a constant stream of noise coming from within the castle - _that would be the Great Hall, I suppose,_ thought he - and, trying hard not to lose Rose (as per Hermione's instructions), he gripped her small, warm hand tightly as the first-years slowly filed into the Great Hall, to a mild smattering of applause and cheers coming from the various tables.

Albus looked around him in amazement. The Great Hall was not as big as he had expected - it was far bigger. There were five large long tables in the Hall - one for each of the respective Hogwarts houses (Albus could faintly see his brother James wave at him from the Gryffindor table), and one right in front, where the teachers and staff of Hogwarts sat. In the middle of the Hall was a large area of space unoccupied - save for a small ragged stool, and a tall and tattered wizard's hat.

"The Sorting Hat," whispered Rose, who gripped Albus' hand even more tightly - this was a whisper echoed amongst the first-years. Most of them had heard of the hat that sorted first-years into the respective houses. None of them knew how the Hat did it, only that the Hat possessed a great deal of magical power.

"First-years! Line up in order of name!" Professor Hagrid commanded, pushing through the crowd of first-years to separate them and get them in order. Albus found himself in the middle of the line, while Scorpius was just in front of him, and Rose was right at the back of the queue. The first person in line was a few meters away from the Sorting Hat.

"Welcome, first-years!" boomed a magically enhanced voice from the front of the Hall. "I am Professor McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School. I trust that you had perused the school booklet before you came here, and thus are aware of the house system in Hogwarts.

"Your House in Hogwarts will literally be like your own home - you'll live in the same place as your House-mates, have lessons with them, and have meals with them. The annual Quidditch Championship will also comprise four teams, one from each house, so you'll be working with your House-mates for that too. Whichever house you're put in, I trust that you'll grow to like it and belong to it, no matter what misgivings about that House you may have.

"Alright. We're all hungry students here" - a few people from the House tables roared in assent - "so we'll do this fast. Let the Sorting... BEGIN!" Applause and cheering followed. Albus felt a sudden lurching pain in his stomach that had nothing to do with gastric problems.

Professor Hagrid had joined the teacher's table, and also magically enhanced his voice so that it was audible to everyone in the voluminous hall. He now held a name-list in his hands, and began reading from it.

"Auburn, Cheryl!" The girl at the front of the line stumbled into the middle of the Hall nervously, sitting on the stool and placing the Sorting Hat on her head. After a few seconds, a seam in the Hat opened and the Hat 'shrieked', "HUFFLEPUFF!" Cheryl, smiling away, joined the Hufflepuff table, which had cheered loudest after her Sorting.

"Bott, Parry!" A small weedy boy went up and did the same thing, only to be told ten seconds later that he belonged to "RAVENCLAW!"

This went on for quite awhile, as Albus found himself getting nearer and nearer to the start of the line. He would be Sorted soon. After his mother's reassurances back at the station, he had felt certain that he would be put into Gryffindor - but Scorpius seemed to have different ideas about the system. Oh well. Albus supposed that Ravenclaw was not too bad; he WAS a rather bookish person, to be honest.

"Malfoy, Scorpius!" called out Professor Hagrid (was it just me, thought Albus, or did the Professor say that name with a slightly disapproving tone?). Scorpius stepped up excitedly onto the center of the Hall and put on the Hat without bothering to sit down - he was, as he had predicted, from "SLYTHERIN!"

It was Albus now.

"Potter, Albus!" called Hagrid - the cheeriness in his tone had come back now, if not more so. Instantly, the whole Hall came abuzz with noise. Albus heard his surname being muttered all across the Hall - he noticed that even the teachers were suddenly sitting upright in their seats, staring at him. He felt a pang of irritation in this, though he could not place it. Every step he took seemed to be a burden - would it be Gryffindor or Ravenclaw?

He put on the Sorting Hat.

Gryffindor?

Or Ravencl -

"SLYTHERIN!" screamed the Hat into his ears.

Albus felt faint. He had heard Slytherin, but that couldn't be right. Slowly, he took the Hat from over his head, and looked around. The whole school seemed to be staring at him even more now, except that no one was making any noise, save for a few whispers of "Harry Potter" and "Slytherin" floating around.

So he had heard correctly. Slytherin. He looked over at the Gryffindor table – James was there, his mouth agape as he heard his earlier tease being proven right. He spotted the Slytherin table – the one at the other end of the hall, underneath huge green and silver decorations. Scorpius was waving at him.

Slowly, but surely, Albus found himself walking toward the Slytherin table. The Slytherins were grinning at him, but as Albus walked on, the grins seemed to turn into sharp evil smirks. Scorpius was calling out to him, but all Albus could hear from the Slytherin table was lots and lots of hissing. He shook involuntarily.

-

Shortly after Albus took his seat at the Slytherin table, just beside Scorpius, the last of the first-years had been sorted. Rose Weasley strode toward the Slytherin table. There was shock and horror in her eyes, and the whole school gaped along with her.

Even the teachers, from their high position at the front of the Hall, were shaken. It was the weirdest Sorting they had ever seen in a thousand years. They wondered what Harry Potter would feel about this.

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_So there you have it – the Sorting! And yes, please review! _


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